DAVID BOWLES - Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico

Saturday, July 21 at 2 PM

In conversation with Rebecca Gomez, Curator of Exhibitions & Programs at Mexic-Arte Museum

ABOUT FEATHERED SERPENT, DARK HEART OF SKY

A contemporary retelling of the origin myths of Mexico, crafted as a single concrete narrative.

The stories in Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky trace the history of the world from its beginnings in the dreams of the dual god, Ometeotl, to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Mexico and the fall of the great city Tenochtitlan. In the course of that history we learn about the Creator Twins—Feathered Serpent and Dark Heart of Sky—and how they built the world on a leviathan's back; of the shape-shifting nahualli; and the aluxes, elfish beings known to help out the occasional wanderer. And finally, we read Aztec tales about the arrival of the blonde strangers from across the sea, the strangers who seek to upend the rule of Motecuhzoma and destroy the very stories we are reading.

David Bowles stitches together the fragmented mythology of pre-Colombian Mexico into an exciting, unified narrative in the tradition of William Buck's Ramayana, Robert Fagles's Iliad, and Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths. Readers of Norse and Greek mythologies will delight in this rich retelling of stories less explored.

Legends and myths captured David Bowles's imagination as a young Latino reader; he was fascinated with epics like the Iliad and the Odyssey. Despite growing up on the United States/Mexico border, he had never read a single Aztec or Mayan myth until he was in college. This experience inspired him to reconnect with that forgotten past. Several of his previous books have incorporated themes from ancient Mexican myths.

ABOUT DAVID BOWLES

David Bowles: A product of a Mexican-American family, David lived most of his life in south Texas, where he teachs at the University of Texas. He has written several books, most notably the Pura Belpré Honor Book The Smoking Mirror.

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